Are You in a Blended Family? Navigating Estate Planning for Blended Families: Tips for Spouses
Estate Planning Process
1
Free Initial Assessment
This is a brief 15 minute video or phone call with an estate planning solicitor to discuss your wishes, the extent of your assets and family dynamics.
2
Get a quote
Based on the free initial assessment you will get a fixed fee quote and a scope for the services required.
3
Estate planning questionnaire
You will complete a comprehensive but concise online questionnaire to elicit all the necessary information to prepare your estate plan.
5
Review documents
Draft documents are emailed or posted to you to review at your own pace and in your own time.
6
Second meeting
Meet with your estate planning solicitor to discuss the draft documents, receive an explanation of what each document really does, have all your questions answered and sign your documents.
4
First meeting
Review questionnaire with estate planning solicitor, identify beneficiaries, executors, trustees, attorneys and guardians, discuss the extent of your financial interests.
Protect Your Family
Give your family members peace of mind in a time of great loss.
Protect Your Assets
Protect your accumulated wealth from divorce, disputes, bankruptcy and spendthrift beneficiaries.
Minimise Tax
Protect the inheritance from unnecessary taxes.
Fixed Fees
Our fees are fixed regardless of the complexity of your matter. We offer a fresh alternative to the standard billable hour arrangement of most other law firms. Nobody likes surprises on their bills. Our fixed fees offer budget certainty, increased efficiency and transparency. You won’t have to pay for our work if we didn’t tell you our costs before we did the work.
Estate Planning Services
Essential Wills
A will is a legal document that sets out the will maker’s wishes for the distribution of their assets after death. Essential wills do not provide asset protection and tax minimisation.
Complex Wills with Testamentary Trusts
A testamentary trust will protects your accumulated wealth from spendthrift beneficiaries, minimises tax to beneficiaries and helps protect the inheritance.
Enduring Power of Attorney
EPA is a legal agreement made by choice which enables a person to appoint trusted persons as their attorneys and gives power to attorneys to make financial and property decisions.
Enduring Power of Guardianship
EPG is a legal agreement made by choice which enables a person to appoint trusted persons as their guardians and gives power to the guardians to make personal, lifestyle and medical treatment decisions.
Advance Health Directive
An Advance Health Directive enables you to make decisions about the treatment you would want or not want to receive if you ever became sick or injured and were incapable of communicating your wishes.
Discretionary (Family) Trust
A trust can form part of an estate planning strategy and be used as a holding entity for real estate and other assets. Trusts are tax-effective structures and a means to protect assets for beneficiaries.
Super Binding Nomination
This is a written legally binding direction to your superannuation trustee setting out how to distribute your superannuation death benefits after your demise.
Succession of Family Trusts
The appointor of the trust can remove a trustee and appoint a new one. Therefore, ensuring there are provisions in the trust deed for a successor appointor after the current appointor passes away is critical for passing control of the trust to the intended beneficiaries.
Award Winning Estate Planning Lawyer in Perth
Crystal Lawyers is listed on Three Best Rated as one of the Top 3 Estate planning lawyers in Perth, WA.